Market leader in Spread Tow reinforcements, Oxeon, has developed a new and improved version of its TeXtreme® Spread Tow carbon fiber fabric with increased damage performance that outperforms currently used carbon fiber reinforcements in several key categories.

“We invest a lot of time and effort into understanding this type of material in depth, and in the process we have collected an extensive amount of unique data on Spread Tow fabrics. This knowledge we’ve acquired through research projects and working closely as partners with our customers is what sets us apart in making world-class products that improve performance. With our offerings including FEA analysis, lay-up optimization and manufacturing support, this serves as a guarantee of high quality,” says Henrik Blycker, CEO of Oxeon, the makers of TeXtreme®.

TeXtreme® has over ten years of experience manufacturing and testing real-world applications of Spread Tow reinforcement technology. This knowledge combined with flexible production capabilities plus access to the largest global capacity of Spread Tow fabrics means rapid delivery of tailor-made fabrics to customers, and reduced time-to-market for their products.

Damage assessments of composites in the aerospace industry are more demanding than ever, and simulation of impact damage and damage growth has become increasingly important given the high cost of testing manufactured parts. Thus, the use of reliable simulation models is essential considering the expense of the materials used in this industry.

Due in part to its interest in TeXtreme® Spread Tow reinforcements’ outstanding performance using ultra-thin plies, the European Air TN DAMTEX project developed analytical and FE models to predict impact damage and damage propagation in thin woven composites. Extensive testing has been performed to feed and validate the material models through characterization of fiber failure, delamination and residual strength following an impact event in a drop tower test.

As a result of further testing on these novel materials, a new TeXtreme® variant with improved damage performance was developed. Test results from this new material demonstrate improved interlaminar strength, limited damage and excellent CAI results that outperform the current standards in carbon fiber reinforcements.

About TeXtreme®

TeXtreme® Spread Tow reinforcements are the ultimate choice for making ultra-light composites. TeXtreme® Technology is flexible and tow-size independent, which enables the development of optimized reinforcement solutions tailor-made for specific application needs. Utilization of TeXtreme® Spread Tow carbon fabrics and carbon UD tapes by manufacturers of advanced aerospace, industrial and sports products confirms that 20-30% lighter composite parts can be produced with improved mechanical properties and superior surface smoothness.

TeXtreme® is a registered trademark owned by Oxeon AB. Founded in 2003, Oxeon has quickly established itself as the market leader in Spread Tow reinforcements with its products marketed under the brand name TeXtreme®. For more information, please visit www.textreme.com/b2b.

About the DAMTEX project

The European Air Tn DAMTEX (Damage Tolerance Design for Thin-Ply Textile Composites) project is a collaboration between four partners from two countries: Sweden – with industrial partners Oxeon AB and research institute Swerea SICOMP); and Spain – with Aernnova as industrial partner and research group AMADE (serving as a subcontractor to Aernnova). As a result of the DAMTEX project, an approach has been developed for the FE modeling of low velocity impact damage and damage growth for ultrathin- and thin-woven-ply composites. Prior to the modeling work, an experimental assessment was performed to understand the effects of thickness on the impact behavior of these materials. The data from the DAMTEX project first published: http://www.airtn.eu/downloads/damtex_nextgen2_workshop_viena_v1_storage.pdf